The Fairy of Popularity
by AmiRide
Summary: Ella Martinez just moved from Colorado to Arizona. Nudge and the Flock are on an outing. What happens if Ella sees Nudge in her school's bathroom with her wings out, and Nudge poses as a fairy, sent to make her popular? Set before "The Angel Experiment."
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So hi y'all. This is my first fanfiction, I hope you like it. I wrote it because:**

**1. I absolutely ****_love _****Nudge.**

**2. I wanted to show everyone that Nudge is not just some stupid girly-girl who rants on and on about stupid pointless stuff. She's intelligent and eager to learn and sweet and nice. She even reads the dictionary; it's been pointed out in the book once or twice. She's just conscious of how she looks and doesn't want to look like she slept in a Dumpster, even if she did.**

**3. I really wanted to write a pre-MR1 fanfic. I don't know why.**

**4. I wanted to show that NOT EVERY MEMBER OF THE FLOCK NEEDS TO BE PAIRED WITH ANOTHER! Enough with this Niggy/Nazzy crap, okay? I mean, I've read some good fanfics about it and all, but seriously. Stop.**

**5. Nudge is probably my favorite character, she's not mentioned enough in the books or most fanfics, just to insert some pointless rant because she's the Nudge Channel.**

**6. I'm a lot like Nudge.**

**7. There are just not enough fanfics about Ella and Nudge.**

**8. I just love the idea of Nudge being a fairy. (Can you imagine the flock being fairies? Max or Fang as fairies—lol. 0.0 …Or Iggy the fairy—*bursts into giggles*)**

**9. Okay, I really need to stop numbering my sentences.**

**Okay, this author's note is getting way too long. Btw, I will try to update as much as possible, but y'all need to R&R, 'kay?**

**Nudge: Sheesh. And I though ****_I _****talked a lot. Just get on with the disclaimer and the story, 'kay?**

**Me: Oops. Sorry.**

**Nudge: It's okay. We still love you.**

**Iggy: Except for me!**

**Me: hey!**

**Angel: Ahem.**

**Oh, right.**

**Disclaimer: I, sadly, do not own Maximum Ride in al its awesomeness. This right goes to the lucky JP. I don't own Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, or Angel, or Ella or Dr. Martinez. I do, however, own everything else. [Insert evil laugh here]**

**PS: R&R!**

* * *

The Popularity Fairy

Chapter 1: Fairies and Pasta

Blah. Red shirt. Blue shirt. Purple shirt. One just blended into the next. Blue jeans, blue jeans, blue jeans… Aha! Skinny jeans! Ella pulled her jeans out of her blah closet with her blah clothes. Okay. Now a shirt. Pink shirt, white shirt… Blah, blah. She pulled out a random shirt. Luckily, it turned out to be a cute top she had bought while she was still in Colorado. She threw on her clothes, brushed her teeth, and gave herself one more once-over in the mirror. Her hair was still slightly frizzy from the disastrous hair treatment she had tried last month. It still had a couple of blond streaks from the time where her friend had convinced her to get highlights. It didn't look great, but it was better than last week. She attempted to brush it, but just kept getting worse, so she just let it be and pushed her glasses up her nose. She didn't need them, but she loved them.

"Ready, Ella?" her mom called from downstairs.

"Yup!" she called back. She ran down the stairs and gobbled down her pancakes.

"Slow down, honey," her mom, Valencia, said, stroking her wild mane of hair. "Are you really that excited to start at a new school?"

"Umm…" Ella slowed down her eating. Valencia laughed.

"I know it'll be different than Colorado, but if you just give Arizona a chance, we can start over again, better."

Ella nodded, unsure. Then she shrugged and put her plate away. Slinging her backpack over her shoulder, she raced out the door. She really didn't want to talk about her dad's death.

* * *

"Max? Can we stop yet?" Max looked over to the Gasman.

"Not yet, Gazzy. Still another fifteen minutes." Gazzy looked disappointed, but then turned to the sky and exclaimed, "Hey look! A UFO!"

"Hey look, I see it too!" Iggy said sarcastically.

"You're all comedians," Fang said. "But the UFO thing is getting old."

"Yeah," I agreed. "Besides, do UFOs really exist? I mean, it's possible that there might be alien life out there, but we don't really have proof, and anyways, UFO stands for Unidentifiable Flying Object, so that could easily apply to a lot of things. Actually, I read the newspaper the other day, and there was also a news report on TV on it, about—"

Fang cut me off by pressing my side and saying, "Mute button." Everyone laughed.

I scowled, but I find it hard to stay mad at anyone, so I grinned two seconds later. Max, amused at this, smirked, but not teasingly. She seemed to swell with pride, and turned back to narrowly avoid a cloud. Clouds are hard to fly in. They're wet, cold, and sticky.

"Yeah," Angel agreed, reading my mind. She did a flip in the air and twirled. "I'm a ballerina, guys!"

I saw Fang's eyes soften. Despite how on the outside he appears to be Tall, Dark, and Emotionless, you could tell he cared for the whole Flock enormously, especially Angel.

I giggled and spun on one toe in the air like a real ballerina. It wasn't very often that Max let us out on outings like these, for fear of being spotted, and it was even less often that we got to go on long-distance trips. But it was good for our wings, and Max was all about health (except for healthy food), so we occasionally got to go out. And I loved it.

_Yeah, _Angel said in my head. _I love it too. It kind of reminds me of camping with Jeb._

Suddenly I sped up in front of everyone. I really didn't want to talk about Jeb's death.

* * *

_Okay Ella. You can do this. Just breathe._ Ella took a deep breath and reminded herself not to talk in the third person.

She really wanted to be popular at this school. Wasn't that every girl's dream? In Colorado, she had had a ton of good friends, but she hadn't been popular, and she wanted to change that here. Earlier today, she had met a few nice people in her classes, and had been overly nice to every single person that she came across, even Eric, the nasty kid who tried to trip her in the hallway. Now she was planning on asking one of the nice people she had met if she could sit with them. She had a goal. She could achieve it. All she had to do was calm down.

She walked out into the cafeteria. Some people looked up, and some of them whispered, but nothing major. Ella walked over to a table where a girl named Amy and her friends were sitting.

"Can I—" A big pole seemed to appear out of nowhere and she slammed into it, sending her food flying everywhere.

_Crap. This is not happening. This is way too cliché to be happening to me_. Ella tried to convince herself that this was not her reality, but sadly, it was, and in her reality, 150 thirteen-year olds were staring at her in shock. She looked down and realized she was covered in spaghetti. Crap. Slowly she tried to get up but slipped and fell again. God, this was so horribly cliché it made her want to gag.

A quiet, cold chuckle broke the silence. Ella looked up to see Eric softly laughing behind a curtain of greasy blond hair. She glared at him as she heard the laughter of his friends slowly join his. Soon the entire eighth grade was also laughing. At her. Crap. Her day just turned from bad to worse. The only thing that slightly comforted her was the fact that Ava, the most popular girl in middle school, wasn't laughing and was glaring at anyone who was.

This gave her enough courage to pick herself up and storm out of the lunchroom, giving one final glare at Eric. At the last second before she left the cafeteria, she buried her head in her hands and started running.

She sobbed her way into bathroom, racing into one of the handicapped stalls with sinks in them. She washed off her clothes the best she could, checked to see if there was any pasta in her hair, and sat down on the toilet lid and started crying for real. Eventually she had to walk out of the stall for tissues, when she saw—

Oh crap. This wasn't supposed to happen. No one was supposed to be in here. No one was supposed to see her like this.

Crap.

* * *

We were finally flying over Arizona. Wow. We had flown here all the way from Colorado. I could see the desert from way up here, and could picture the tumbleweeds and the cowboys from the old westerns Max sometimes let us watch before bed.

"Isn't it pretty, Nudge?" Angel asked, slipping a small hand into mine.

"Yup," I agreed. I felt a surge of pride that Angel was holding _my_ hand, that she considered me one of the big kids. I didn't mind admitting that I yearned to be treated like Max or Fang or Iggy. They were starting to realize that I was getting bigger now too. I was eleven now, older, more mature. It all really starts to change once you hit double digits.

I suddenly realized that I had to pee. Noticing a middle school below me, I flew up to Max, temporarily disturbing our flying positions.

"I'm going to go use the bathroom in that middle school real quick, okay? Be right back." Without waiting for an answer, I sped off to the school (no, not the School, silly).

A couple of minutes later, after relieving myself and washing my hands, I checked my reflection in the mirror. I loved the way I looked. I wouldn't be comfortable looking any other way, you know? It was just so—me. No one would be themselves if they looked different than they did.

I carefully readjusted some curls when I saw a Hispanic-looking girl with frizzy brown hair streaked with blond. Her clothes, which I could tell had been somewhat cute, had traces of what looked like spaghetti sauce. She had dorky glasses and her brown eyes were red and puffy from crying. And she was staring at me in shock. I realized that my wings were still out.

Oh crap. This wasn't supposed to happen. No one was supposed to be in here. No one was supposed to see me like this.

Crap.

* * *

In the bathroom, Ella saw the prettiest girl she had ever seen.

Her skin was the color of coffee after someone had poured in a lot of cream and sugar. Her hair, which was a mix of dark brown and caramel curls, floated around her face. Her eyes were big and warm and brown—a bit like Ella's, just prettier. She didn't seem to be wearing any makeup. Her clothes, though somewhat worn, were cute and comfortable-looking. She looked about fourteen or fifteen, though it was hard to tell. **(A/N: the Flock all look three or four years older than they actually are.) **She was so impossibly pretty Ella had to rub her eyes to make sure she wasn't imagining her.

And—get this—she had wings. Real, huge, tawny wings, spread out in the bathroom.

Ella had only one question: "Who are you?"

* * *

"Who are you?"

I took a quick moment to analyze the situation. This girl, from what I could tell (watching lots of teen chick flicks helped), just went through some sort of drama that involved tears and spaghetti. Since no friends were around comforting her, I figured she must be new or unpopular. And since every girl wants this, I figure she must want to be popular. Max had always told us to do good in the world. And I could only think of one answer that would appear logical and wouldn't completely blow her mind with scientific mumbo.

"I'm…Monique," I said, using my real name, "the fairy of…popularity."

* * *

**So? Didja like it ? Huh? Huh?**

**Ella: Calmos, amiga.**

**Me: *giggles* Oops.**

**So this might explain a little how Ella isn't as freaked as she could be when she first sees Max's wings. I'll try to update soon, 'kay? But first, I need…**

**AT LEAST 5 reviews. (I know, I'm so evil, right?) But seriously, 5 reviews isn't that many, and if I get double or triple that, I might even post TWO chapters… So please, R&R. Or I might set Angel loose on you!**

**Angel (little six-year-old mind-reading creeper child with a chainsaw): MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!**

**Point is, R&R.**

**Iggy: Point taken.**

**Me: YOU don't need to R&R, you're in the story.**

**Iggy: Humph. I'm leaving.**

**Me: NOOOOOOOOOO! Come back!**

**Nudge: Guys, just R&R to make these two happy!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Okay. So I finally figured out how this site works.**

**Sorry it took me so long to update. I've been reading Twilight, and-horror of horrors-I actually LIKE IT. Urgh. There goes my Twilight-hating Fanclub.**

**So yeah, I just finished Breaking Dawn-which was amazing, btw-and I had to write an essay.**

**Iggy: Excuses, excuses.**

**For once, he's actually saying somethings right [Iggy: Hey!]. But the important thing is, I'm updating.**

**Disclaimer: No. I don't own MR.**

**So how 'bout a round 2, huh?**

* * *

Chapter 2-De-frizzled and De-blonded

The Fairy of Popularity. This must be her lucky day.

Ella, still in shock, realized that Monique was saying something.  
"Sorry, what?"

Monique laughed, a tinkling sound that sounded like bells or wind chimes.

"I said, what's wrong? How can I help you?"

Ella sighed and started the whole story. She thought she saw Monique stiffen when she got to the part about Colorado, but that might have just been her imagination. After she had finished, Monique gave her a sympathetic smile.

"Well, the best thing to do is to walk out there with your chin high and just face them. But first…"

The fairy zipped out of the window and returned a couple of seconds later with some very cute clothes.

"I will be keeping these for now," she said, seeing Ella reach for them, "but you will get them. It's part of your week-long plan to become popular." Seeing Ella blink confusedly, she added defensively, "What? I'm not called the Fairy of Popularity for no reason."

"How old are you? Fourteen? Fifteen?" The fairy laughed again.

"I'm a fairy. We don't have ages." Monique paused. "For now, just wash your face and walk back out there like nothing happened."

Ella nodded. It was a fairy's advice, after all. Monique really did look like a fairy. She was tall and beautiful, graceful and light. And she had wings, despite the fact that her wings looked more like a bird's than like a fairy's. She had wings. Ella readily took her advice, and strode out the door, more confident.

* * *

Phew! I didn't know how long I could handle that. Ella was sweet, but I didn't really know how to act like a fairy, let alone a fourteen or fifteen year old. I was happy that she had mistaken my age, though. It just goes to show that I _am _getting older. As for the clothes, no need to tell you how good my shoplifting skills are. But I was really excited about this. Max had always said to help people when we could, and this was something fun, not sad like a homeless person or something. I felt pretty smart about using my real name instead of Nudge. You never know what might happen and who you might be talking to.

Poor Ella. I felt really bad for her.

I sighed. The only problem was that I should be getting back by now, and I had promised to help Ella. It was just like me to get into a situation like this. How was Max supposed to let me take watches and treat me like an older kid if I couldn't take care of my own situation, let alone others'? I sighed again and sat down by the windowsill. At the last second I remembered to fold in my wings. Didn't need any more publicity.

I contemplated what made kids popular in the movies I'd seen or the books I'd read. First off, they were all nice (or super bratty, but Ella didn't seem that way). They were pretty, they dressed nice, and they were confident. I absently twiddled my thumbs when I realized the flock had no clue where I was. I considered going back and telling Max what I was going to do, but I realized there was no way she would ever leave me alone to do it. So, grinning deviously, I thought to Angel.

_Hey_.

_Hi Nudge! Where are you? Max is going crazy!_

_Tell her I'm safe and sound, and I'll be back in a week._

_Okay. _Funny how easily six-year olds are satisfied.

_Cool then._

_But what are you doing? I just wanna know, I won't tell Max_. Angel giggled in my head. _We can have a big-girl secret. _

_Yep. A big-girl secret. Um, I'm helping a girl make friends._

_Ooh! You're good at that. Remember that girl in California?_

Oh yeah, Caroline. She was nice.

_Anyways, see you soon, Ange. Gotta go._

_Okay! _And with one last giggle, she was gone.

* * *

As Ella walked into Biology, she kept her head high and stared straight ahead. She heard whispers and giggles, but she ignored them as she walked straight to her desk and settled in her seat. Eventually the noise died down as the teacher walked in.

"Hello class, I am Miss Heller, your biology teacher. First off, I must set ground rules. Talking will not be accepted in my class. If you…"

Ella tuned out the teacher and doodled in the corner of her notebook. Ugh. An hour of Biology. Yay. She scribbled a note and turned to pass it to Sara, when she realized that her best friend was back in Colorado and not next to her. Great. An hour of Biology _without _Sara. Yay.

* * *

I doodled in the corner of some notebook I found in the bathroom. After I'd gone shopping for some essentials, I'd gotten pretty bored pretty fast. I'd never had to do something to pass the time before. In the E-shaped house, we were never bored. I was amazed at how fast time passed when doodling. So there _was _a reason that all the kids in movies were doing it.

Before I knew it, it was 3:00 pm and the final bell had rung. I reluctantly uncurled myself from my hiding spot behind the school and shot up like a rocket straight into the air. Unfortunately, I wasn't as skilled as Max, and my takeoff made quite a bit of noise. Some of the kids looked up. I had two options: 1) blow our cover and get discovered by Erasers and whitecoats, or 2) hide in the wet, sticky, cold, yucky cloud above me.

WWMD? What would Max do? Hide in the cloud of course. Max was reasonable and un-gross-out-able. So muttering "ew," to myself, I shot up into the cloud.

For all of you non-bird types out there, clouds are NOT made out of cotton candy. They are not deliciously light and fluffy, and half the time they aren't even white. So if you ever decide to hide in a cloud, if you are a non-birdkid who is not about to be discovered and taken back to the School, think twice before you do it.

I winced as a felt the cold air hit my skin, which was soon covered with droplets of freezing water. Luckily, after a few minutes the kids were distracted again, so I flew up out of the cloud. Spotting Ella, I hovered over her, following her home. I saw her go upstairs, and waited for her to finish her homework (I don't care what you say, homework IS important) before flying in through her window. Ella fell out of her chair, and I stifled a giggle.

"So, are you ready to become popular?"

* * *

"So, are you ready to become popular?" said Monique, flying through her window.

Ella fell out of her chair.

Trying not to laugh, Monique pulled her up again, with strength that Ella didn't believe possible from her slender body.

"So…"

"So first I'm going to go through some ground rules." Ella winced, reminded of Biology. "What? They're not bad. The first one is that for this one week, you are going to let me do whatever I want with you." Ella winced again, trying not to think of some of the things she might do. "What?" Monique said defensively again. "I'm not going to do anything bad. It'll be okay, I promise." Ella nodded.

"Cool. So today I'm going to start with a makeover. First things first: do you need your glasses to see?"

"No," said Ella, wondering what she was getting at.

"Good. Because first you're going to have to loose the glasses."

"What?" Ella cried. No! She loved those glasses. When she and Sara had bought them together they had told each other that they would keep them as a sign of friendship. No way.

"Relax, Ella. You can keep them. Glasses are fun, and the frame is nice. You just can't wear them all the time. Wear them when you're in…Biology class, and Chem. And English. Just no other time."

Ella nodded glumly.

"Cool then. Let's start with the hair."

* * *

I was proud of myself with the extreme amount of self-control I was exerting. I wanted to squeal and go immediately to the hair, but glasses first. I did like them, but she didn't need them, so what was the point? Plus, glasses make you look smart, and if Ella really was smart, points for her.

But the hair was a disaster. So that needed to be treated quickly. I ushered Ella over to her bathroom sink and made her tilt her head back into it. Taking out some hair products, I washed her hair thoroughly over and over again until the highlights disappeared and her hair was a pretty, warm dark brown. It was still frizzy though, so I added in some extra-care glossing conditioner, which after a few minutes took its effect and returned her hair what I assumed was its former state: a collection of glossy curls.

Wow. I stopped for a second. Ella really had gorgeous hair. I had originally intended to straighten it, thinking it might be that weird, kinda-wavy light brown dark brown-streaked hair that I had seen on other people before, but now, there was no way I was letting a hair iron anywhere _near_ that hair.

"Wow," Ella said after her hair was dry, touching a delicate curl near her ear. "I thought I wouldn't be seeing my real hair again for months. You really do have powers, don't you?" She looked at me with awe and admiration.

Grinning hugely, I hid the bag of hair products behind my back and nodded.

I was kind of…I don't know, put out, maybe, at the fact that Ella was so ready to believe that I was a fairy. I mean, if some random girl with wings showed up telling me some story that she was a fairy, I would have sent her home, telling her she was full of poop. But I guess that Ella's ready belief was saving my butt, because otherwise she would be super-suspicious and I would be in serious chizz.

* * *

Ella wanted to cry. Cry with happy tears. Her hair! She thought there was no way she would see her real hair again so soon, and yet there it was in front of her, a mane of long, glossy, dark curls. Monique really had magic in her. No doubt she was a fairy now. Monique gave her a huge grin as Ella admired herself in the mirror.

"So, some mascara. Normally I wouldn't, because you've got great lashes anyways, but it would work great with your skin tone. You're skin is really nice, you know? Nice and smooth, and so tan. You've got a great tan. Actually, I've got some really nice lotion you should use. Here, put it on. Also, you should use it every day after your shower. Here."

Ella grinned. She'd noticed that Monique talked a lot. She went into the bathroom and put on the smooth lotion, which smelled nice and felt soft on her skin.

"Okay, so for the mascara. Your lashes aren't black, they're a dark brown, so this will make them thicker and longer, but the same color. All natural. Natural is the best look to go for, and this eye shadow looks close to your skin tone."

Monique showed her how to put on the makeup and gave her several other beauty things that she seemed to produce out of nowhere. Then she swiveled Ella's dresser chair around so that it was facing the mirror.

Oh. Wow. She looked—

"Like a supermodel. You look gorgeous, Ella."

And for once, Ella couldn't help but agree.

* * *

Anyways, after Ella's hair was de-frizzled and de-blonded, I showed her how to put on some everyday makeup I had learned from the occasional fashion magazine that Max brought home after a rare shopping trip. "Some fashion for our fashionista," she'd used to say, smiling. A lump formed in my throat as I thought of Max. Max, with her death glare that turned into a look of love whenever she looked at any of the flock. Ella's brown eyes reminded me so much of Max's that it was hard to look at them.

Huh.

I just noticed something.

Ella looked weirdly like Max.

* * *

**Oooooh, cliffy!**

**Angel: *rolls eyes***

**Anywho (weird word), R&R!**

**And for those of you who don't know what this means, it means READ AND REVIEW!**

**Fang: Were all-**

**Me: Yes, Fang. All the exclamation points were necessary.**

**Ella: Haha, soon I shall be gorgeous and popular and I shall rule the school! Mwahahahahahahahahaha!**

**Nudge: That's right, girlfriend. But even though confidence is nice, that's a little over the top.**

**Ella: Oh. How about this? *smiles* Hey, I'm Ella.**

**Nudge: Perfect. We're getting there. **

**Max: Oh, this is where everyone's been.**

**Me: Yup. I kidnapped them.**

**Max: WHAT?**

**Me: No, no! Just kidding, just kidding, JUST-**

**Iggy: Ouch. That must have been nasty. She's out cold. Oh well.**

**Fang: Okay then, I guess this means I have to do it. Um, so, R&R, guys, 'kay?**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: So, I'm baaaaaaack!**

**Fang: Oh Lord.**

**So I decided to update early for you guys, just 'cuz I'm nice that way. (It's five in the morning.)**

**1 good thing that happened this week: So before, I'd lost my ****_School's Out Forever_**** and I was moping around because I was pissed. Guess what? Literally two seconds before I posted this chapter, I found it again. Oh, the magic of Fanfiction. :)**

**Highlight of the day: My little sister running around the house with a pair of my older brother's boxers, screaming and brandishing it like a war flag. It was so funny.**

**Enjoy the new chapter! And ****_REVIEW!_**

**Disclaimer: Mumble mumble.**

**Iggy: What was that?**

**Me: okay, fine, I don't own Maximum Ride**

**Iggy: to hell you don't!**

* * *

_Previously on The Fairy of Popularity_ (**hehe. It sounds like a TV show)**

_Huh._

_I just noticed something._

_Ella looked weirdly like Max._

* * *

No, like, seriously. Ella had Max's eyes, mouth, and forehead—even the same stubborn chin. Which made no sense. Ella was Hispanic, and Max was… well, I don't really no what she was. But she wasn't Hispanic, which Ella was. Had the world suddenly decided that now would be a very good time to play trick on me?  
Because it wasn't. I was helping a girl achieve greatness here! No joke!

"Umm, Monique?" Ella said, calling me out of my dreamland. "You okay?"

I realized I had spaced out for a second and smiled reassuringly. "I'm good." I hated the way Ella every sentence as if it were a question, and immediately felt bad for thinking something mean. I bet Max, who was mean to mean people, was never mean to nice people. It just wasn't something that older kids could do. They needed to be responsible, like Max.

I would get back to the whole Max-resemblance thing later.

Ella nodded and studied her reflection.

We'd finally moved on to the clothes. Ella was considering each outfit carefully, as if she wasn't sure. Which was ridiculous, because _I_ had picked them out.

Did I sound like Max just there? Huh? Did I? Did I?

I did, didn't I? I smiled with satisfaction.

"That's the one," I commented distractedly, nodding in approval at Ella's outfit.

"Really? Oh, thanks so much! It's really nice," Ella gushed.

"Totally," I agreed. She was wearing a light green sheer shirt with ruffles down the front, and a tank top underneath. Her skinny jeans were just the right color of navy, and what with her curls and makeup, she looked about three years older. "The color really compliments your skin, and it makes your eyes look hazel. Pair that with a pair of black ballet flats and a cute white tote bag as a backpack and you'll _totally_ rock the eighth grade. You look soooo nice Ella," I gushed in return.

"Thanks." She smiled a big smile that lit up her face. Then she ran her hands through her curls and struck a ridiculous, pouty-lipped pose. I laughed, joining her in the mirror with my own silly pose. She laughed so hard she fell down, which made me laugh so hard _I_ fell down, which made her laugh so hard that she snorted, which made _me _laugh so hard _I_ snorted. We laughed so much that Ella's mother started coming upstairs to investigate. Eyes widening, Ella promptly pushed me out of the window, looking apologetic. I hovered in mid-air, and whispered, "I'll be back in the morning. 'Night Ella!" Then I flew out of her sight.

I heard her rush into the bathroom and turn the shower on again, pretending to be taking a shower. When her mom made it to her room, she looked around dazedly and confusedly, then muttered, "Must have been the girls next door." She blinked her brown eyes, which looked exactly like Ella's—and MAX'S, weirdly—and walked out of the room, her pretty brown hair swishing with every step.

I smiled.

And then I wondered if Ella would remember to put the lotion on again after her shower.

* * *

Ella's sides still hurt. She and Monique had been laughing their butts off—so hard that Valencia had come upstairs to investigate. In a flash of an Ella the Genius moment, she pushed Monique out of the window and turned on the shower. Luckily, Ella didn't have one of those annoying moms who would go all the way and step into the bathroom to see what she was doing. Thank the Lord.

She was so happy that Monique had stepped into her life and brought a little bit of the happiness she had been missing since her father's funeral. She felt like she and Monique were on their way to becoming friends. She needed a friend right now.

Ella was still in awe over the magic that Monique had worked on her. She looked back to normal again—except _better_. Ella still loved the swish of her hair on her back reminding her of her curls, instead of the frizzy mess her hair had been this morning.

In her childhood fantasies, she had always been best friends with a fairy. Now she actually _was _friends with a fairy—which was something she never would have thought she would have been able to say in a million years.

Monique was funny and nice and sweet, and Ella thought of all the advice she had given. Then she thought of the lotion. And then she slathered it on, grinning at the memory of Monique's rant on skin.

A real live _fairy_. Oh Lord.

* * *

Okay, so maybe I overdid the whole searching-for-shelter thing.

If I had been Max, I would have been perfectly content with snuggling up in a tree and falling half-asleep, half-on guard. If I had been Fang, I would have been pretty happy, or as happy and Fang can get, finding a resting spot between some rocks. And as Iggy, I would have bundled up behind a bush and stuffed my long, lanky limbs in a tight ball and wrapped my wings around me.

Heck, even Angel and Gazzy would have been satisfied with a corner of blanket and some soft grass.

But no. As Nudge, I had to find the perfect place to settle down for the night. It was already nine, my bedtime, and that had been three hours ago. Max would be disappointed. Just as I was about to give up, I saw the most perfect house ever.

And it was _abandoned._

Score!

* * *

Ella was dreaming of a boy she had never seen before, who had strawberry blond hair and pale blue eyes. And weirder, Monique was there too. And the boy kept calling her Nudge. Nudge?

The boy picked Monique up and threw her over his shoulder. A tall, good-looking, dark-haired boy who I hadn't noticed in the background smirked. A pretty girl with wavy brown hair streaked naturally with blond smiled, her sharp brown eyes softening. She was holding the hand of a little blond girl with blue eyes, and she kept calling her Angel, a fitting name. She was clutching a well-worn stuffed giraffe. A little boy with the same hair and eyes farted, and everyone coughed.

"Gazzy!" Monique yelped indignantly. Gazzy? What kind of a name was that?

The little boy smiled mischievously, shrugging. "Sorry."

The tall boy with the strawberry blond hair swung Monique around. "Iggy!" she squealed. Iggy? What was it with the weird names?

"Whoops," he said, purposely letting her slip a little. She let out a strangled yelp and clutched his shoulder tightly. He grinned.

He was seriously cute. The two older guys were both super good-looking. The other one, the dark-haired one, was the kind of boy that if you saw him in the street, you would do a double-take and whisper-ask you friends if his abs were real.

The other one, Iggy, had a huge, mischievous grin. Ella was jealous of Monique, who was desperately clutching his shoulder to keep from falling off. She wished _she _were in that position, pressed tightly against this boy that she barely knew. She firmly turned around to see the brown-haired girl and the dark-haired boy having what seemed to be a conversation through looks. Then the girl smiled. Ella didn't know if she was just perceptive or what but she could see that they liked each other, and wondered if they themselves knew it. It was clear by how the boy's eyes softened whenever he stole a glace at her. They must have been around eighteen or seventeen, she couldn't tell exactly. The boy nudged her and whispered something in her ear. She laughed out loud.

"Fang! No!" Fang? Seriously?

The boy, Fang, smirked and gently shoved the girl, who promptly shoved him back, hard.

"Ow, Max," he muttered. Max? Finally a normal name … for a boy.

Angel grinned deviously. Max reddened, and Ella felt like she had missed something.

This was the weirdest dream she had ever had.

It didn't help that Gazzy had started singing the Smurfs song, Iggy was doing cartwheels and that Monique was doing the can-can. Angel, the angelic little blond-headed demon, giggled and danced in circles with her giraffe. Max and Fang looked at each other and shrugged. Fang did a handstand, and Max started to do a flip. Just as she was about to land on her face, she spread out huge, glorious wings and swooped up, laughing.

Wings.

Which looked exactly like Monique's.

Say what?

* * *

I burst through Ella's window.

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead!" I exclaimed.

"Iggy?" she muttered confusedly.

I stiffened. Iggy? How did she know about Iggy? How _could _know about Iggy? Did she know about the rest of the flock too?

"What kind of a name is Fang?" she mumbled, bewildered.

Oh no. My life was over.

"Oh look, a giraffe!" she said happily.

I relaxed.

"Ella," I cooed. "Time to wake up." I softly shook her shoulder.

She mumbled something incomprehensible and turned over.

I promptly split her pillow in half.

"AAAH!" she sat up abruptly.

"Hey," I said casually.

She rubbed her head and glared at me, rolling off her bed.

"Aww, come on, Ella," I said, tugging her up. "We've gotta get ready!"

"Okay," she said, suddenly remembering what I was talking about.

I waited while she took her shower, rifling through her pictures (okay, okay, so maybe I am a little nosy) and humming "Baby" by Justin Bieber to myself. I flew out of the window to let her get dressed, and I watched her expertly apply her makeup with newfound skill. Then she brushed her curls out and turned to me.

"So?" She asked, twirling.

"Perfect!" I exclaimed. I adjusted the strap on her tote bag. "Now I just gotta teach you to be confident."

Ella's grin faltered.

And so we started a little morning lesson on confidence and how to be yourself, be friendly, but let people know that you had power and would not be stomped on.

I have to say, Ella did pretty well on the fierce face that you give to annoying people who won't leave you alone. It was pretty scary.

"Tone it down a little, Ella," I said, grinning. "You wouldn't want them to wet their pants."

Ella turned to me and snarled, the effect somewhat ruined by the laughter in her eyes. I shrieked as she chased me down and trapped me under a pillow. Then I pushed the pillow over with a burst of strength, and Ella went toppling over. We laughed so hard that Ella actually fell off the bed, which started another round of laughing. When we finally stopped, Ella's cheeks were flushed, and it made her look healthy and energetic. I decided not to comment on it, instead bundling up my unruly mane of curls. I fixed her shirt and nudged her towards the door.

"Go on," I prodded. "Today is the first day of school."

"But yesterd—"

"Nope," I said firmly. "It's today. Now go." Ella grinned and flounced out. I smiled. I couldn't wait to see what happened.

* * *

Ella pranced down the stairs, grabbing an energy bar to save time and leave before Valencia got a good look at her.

Unfortunately, the universe decided that Valencia should be seated at the table, her brow furrowed.

"What was all the laughing I heard upstairs?" she asked, not looking up from her newspaper.

"Oh, just Sara calling to check in," Ella lied smoothly. Monique had taught her to be a good liar, thank God.

"Oh," her mother said, not anticipating the calm tone and instead expecting a red-faced mumble that she could challenge. "Well, okay then." She looked up from her paper.

"Oh my goodness, Ella!" She said, her hand flying to her chest. "You look gorgeous, honey!" Valencia's eyes started to water, and she smiled. "You're so pretty, Ella. Where did you get these clothes? Are you wearing makeup?"

"Oh, um Sara sent them in the mail the other day," Ella lied, "and no, I'm not wearing makeup."

"How did you get your hair back?"

"Oh, that's easy. Washed it five times." Ella really didn't feel like this was the time to tell her mom _Oh yeah, I know this girl right? And she's got wings and she's a fairy so… yeah. She used her magical fairy powers to make me look pretty. No biggie._

"Oh. Well have fun at school then!"

"Kay, bye," Ella said as she ran out the door.

* * *

I flew over Ella's head as she walked to school. Not to sound like a stalker, but I wanted to watch every step of the way.

After all, we wouldn't want all this hard work to go to waste, right?

* * *

**Aww, it's over. But not forever! Did you know that clicking the pretty review button makes more chapters? Cool, huh?**

**Anyways, R&R. I've got nothing to say, sooooooo...**

**Bye!**

**~Ami****


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